Schools may try again for levy approval

Kalispell Public Schools is regrouping after voters defeated a $4.1 million levy request on Tuesday.

The school district passed a $2.8 million building reserve and technology levy in its elementary district Tuesday. Nearly 2,800 voters - 57 percent - supported the levy request, while almost 2,100 voted against it.

At first, the district was hopeful its high school building reserve levy would fare as well. Kalispell voters supported it, with 2,559 people voting for the levy and 2,185 opposing it.

But as the night wore on, results came in from outlying elementary districts. Late Tuesday night, it looked as if every rural elementary district, whose students attend Kalispell high schools, had voted down the high school levy.

By Wednesday morning, only one outlying district had supported the levy: In Creston, there were 68 votes favoring the levy and 66 opposing it.

The final vote tally was 3,806 (51.8 percent) against the high-school levy and 3,542 (48.2 percent) in favor. In some rural districts, the voting was 2-to-1 against the levy.

Apparently, "some of our rural districts did not understand the impact the levy has across the high school district," Kalispell Superintendent Darlene Schottle said Wednesday. "They didn't understand what benefit their students get from the passage of the building reserve levy."

Building reserve money is separate from a district's general fund budget and is used to make improvements to and general repairs on school sites. There is little money in the general fund budget, most of which is allocated for staff salaries and benefits, to pay for basic upkeep on the buildings in the district.

Kalispell has 14 schools and support facilities to maintain. At the high school level, that includes Flathead and Glacier high schools, the former Laser School building, the Linderman Education Center and the H.E. Robinson Vo-Ag Center.

While the economy undoubtedly factored into the election, Schottle said she suspects that some who voted against the high school levy did so because they didn't understand the need for money at the high school level.

"There's a perception that we have a new high school, so why do we need building reserve money?" Schottle said.

Because Glacier High School is new - it opened in fall 2007 - that building likely wouldn't need as much money from the building reserve fund, Schottle said. More money would be spent on upkeep at other high school buildings.

That includes installing rooftop heating and ventilation units at Flathead High School to improve air circulation and bring fresh air into the building. That project was at the top of the high school building reserve priority list. The district already has replaced about five units, but at about $90,000 apiece, it can't afford to replace the remaining worn-out units without building reserve money.

Other maintenance projects, from basic repairs to cosmetic projects like replacing stained ceiling tiles, will likewise go undone if the levy is not renewed.

"We just don't want the buildings to fall into disrepair," Schottle said. "It costs more when buildings are not kept up."

About half the high school building reserve money is used for technology purchases, she said. Without building reserve funds, the high school district's phone system, which except at Glacier hasn't been upgraded since 1998, won't be improved. Computers and software won't be updated.

The funds are so important that the district likely will ask voters again to approve the high school levy.

State law says the district can't bring the matter before voters again until 40 days after the election. Timing, the levy amount and better communication with voters in the outlying district all must be discussed before another vote, Schottle said.

The board of trustees will discuss the election results and the district's next steps at its regular meeting Tuesday.

"I'm fairly confident that the board will make the decision to take it back to the voters," Schottle said.

Tuesday's failure marked the first time a building reserve levy request has failed in Kalispell. The district has relied on building reserve funds since 1982, and taxpayers have renewed the levies every five years since 1985.

The current levies expire June 30, 2010.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com